Illinois Athletics | May 2, 2015

Eighth-ranked Illini gets 20th win in a row

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In a back-and-forth game on Saturday, eighth-ranked Illinois battled back twice to seal its school-record 20th conscutive win with a 6-5 victory against No. 26 Ohio State.

The Illini scored three in both the fifth and sixth to support six solid innings from starter Drasen Johnson (7-2). Closer Tyler Jay shut the door with the final seven outs for his ninth save.

UI also won a program-record 14 consecutive Big Ten contests and remained in first place atop the standings at 15-1, marking Illinois' best Big Ten record through 16 games in school history.

The Illini extended their best start in program history (39-6-1) and maintained the No. 1 winning percentage in the NCAA (.859). The 39 wins already rank seventh in the school's record book, while Hartleb moved past George Huff and alone into third place on the school's all-time list with career win No. 315.

Illinois' 20-game win streak is the longest active streak in the NCAA and second-longest this season behind Texas A&M (24). The NCAA record win streak (34) is owned by Texas (1977) and Florida Atlantic (1999).

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